In case you missed it in the Texas Tribune, Houston Chronicle, or other news outlets, I wanted to make sure you saw the recently released findings from the federal investigation into the state's Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program.
The investigation confirmed Texas has fallen short of its obligation under federal law to ensure that children under age three with autism, speech delays, Down syndrome, and other disabilities have access to ECI services. The investigation found that kids in rural communities of the state have seen the greatest disruption of these services.
Individual ECI providers that contract with the state — such as Easter Seals and Any Baby Can — do a great job serving the infants and toddlers who manage to enroll in ECI. And the state staff at HHSC are dedicated to making the program work for kids.
But the investigation found that Texas is falling short when it comes to enrolling the kids who need this support.
Why is Texas falling short?
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) investigation says, “A significant cause of the findings ... is the level of funding that the State has made available for [the Early Childhood Intervention] program, and the State will need to take into consideration this and other root causes as it implements corrective actions.”
Amid past state funding cuts to ECI and ongoing underfunding, the investigation also noted that there has been a deterioration of "Child Find" outreach efforts aimed at identifying and enrolling children who need these services.
When children miss out on ECI services, they are less likely to be ready for school and more likely to need expensive special education services.
The DOE gave the state 90 days to take corrective action to comply with federal law.
Fortunately, we know there is already interest in the Legislature in addressing this challenge. Last session, Texas took an important step in the right direction. The Legislature increased ECI funding, although the increase fell short of the amount that HHSC said was necessary, and funding measured on a per-child basis continues to lag behind funding levels from earlier in the decade.
You can see more details in the testimony that the Texas ECI Coalition recently submitted to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Article II.
We look forward to working with you to make sure infants and toddlers with disabilities and developmental delays have access to the services they need to learn to walk, swallow, communicate with their families, be prepared for school, or meet other developmental goals.